Wall mounted shelf assemblies



1967 R. ORNSTEIN WALL MOUNTED SHELF ASSEMBLIES Filed Sept. 13, 1965 INVENTOR:

REUBEN ORNSTEIN United States Patent 1 Claim. (Cl. S152) This invention concerns itself with certain improvements in furniture construction of the type disclosed in my copending application serial No. 433,948, filed February 19, 1965.

The aforementioned application relates to furniture construction and in particular to a shelf arrangement wherein a shelf panel is supported by brackets which are adjustably mounted on vertical standards so that the height or elevation of the shelf panel may be varied. Also, the application discloses various readily attachable and detachable means for selectively mounting the shelf brackets on the standards.

The standards themselves may be supported in any suitable manner and if, as often is the situation, the shelf structure is to be wall mounted, it is customary to use nails or screws for securing the standards directly to the wall. While this procedure serves its intended purpose, it has some disadvantages in that the appearance of the standards is marred by nail or screw heads and, what is worse, the wall itself is mutilated by nail or screw holes which cause cracking or peeling, especially in plaster walls. In addition, substantial care and skill must be exercised in locating the nails or screws so that the standards are properly mounted in vertical positions, not only for sake of appearance but also in order that the brackets applied to the standards are capable of properly seating the shelf.

' It is, therefore, the principal object of the present invention to provide a wall mounted shelf assembly which eliminates the disadvantages above outlined by employing pressure-sensitive adhesive means for securing the assembly to a wall without the use of any nails, screws or similar other fasteners.

As such, the invention utilizes as the securing means a recently developed sheet material coated on both sides thereof with pressure-sensitive adhesive, one coated side of which adheres to the shelf assembly while the other side adheres to the wall. However, as a practical matter, it is not possible to merely substitute such an adhesive sheet for nails or screws in mounting the standards of the shelf assembly on the wall, inasmuch as the wall contacting area of the standards is not sufliciently large to sustain the weight of the shelf together with that of any objects placed thereon by adhesive contact alone.

Thus, the present invention has as another of its objects to eliminate the aforementioned standards and to substitute therefor a mounting panel which supports the shelf brackets and which is sufficiently large in area that a coextensive adhesive backing sheet applied thereto is fully capable by itself to support the weight of the shelf assembly as well as any expected load thereon.

With the foregoing more important objects and features in view and such other objects and features as may become apparent as this specification proceeds, the invention will be understood from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like characters of reference are used to designate like parts, and wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a Wall mounted shelf assembly in accordance with this invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary perspective view showing a corner portion of the adhesive backing sheet;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary vertical sectional detail, showing one embodiment of means for attaching the shelf brackets to the mounting panel; and

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FIGURE 4 is a view, similar to that in FIG. 3, but showing another'embodiment of the bracket attaching means.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings in detail, FIG. 1 shows a wall mounted shelf assembly designated generally by the reference numeral 10. For illustrative purposes the assembly 10 is shown as including a plurality of vertically spaced, horizontally elongated shelf members 11 of any suitable length, although it is to be understood that the assembly may comprise only one such shelf member, within the context of the invention. In any event, since the arrangement of the several shelf members is the same, a description of one will sufiice for all,

Each shelf member 11 is supported by -at least two cantilever type brackets 12 which are disposed below the end portions of the shelf member, as indicated. If desired, additional brackets may be provided intermediate the length of the shelf member, if the length is such as to require the provision of such additional brackets for proper support of the shelf member.

In place of providing vertical standards such as are disclosed in my aforementioned application for mounting the shelf brackets 12, the present invention utilizes a vertically disposed, substantially rectangular panel 13 of wood, Masonite or other suitable material, the shelf brackets 12 being secured to the front surface of the panel 13 as will be hereinafter explained. I I

In turn, the panel 13 is secured to a supporting wall 14 by an adhesive backing sheet 15. The latter is of the recently developed type which consists of a sheet of flexible, preferably elastomeric material 16 (see FIG. 2) which is coated on both sides thereof with pressure sensitive adhesive as indicated at 17, the coated sides being covered by protective layers 18 of paper, or the like, which are peeled off to expose the adhesively coated sides of the sheet 16 when the latter is to be used.

The adhesive backing sheet 16 is applied to the shelf assembly so that one side thereof adheres to the rear surface of the panel 13, while its other side adheres to the wall 14, thus supporting the entire shelf assembly on the wall without the use of nails, screws or other like fasteners.

However, it is to be noted that in order to sustain the weight of the shelf assembly as well as that of any objects such as may be expected to be placed thereon, the backing sheet 16 must have a sufficient area in adhesive contact with the wall 14 as well as with the panel 13, so that the adhesive bond therebetween is not broken by the load of the shelf assembly. To this end, the size of the panel 13 in relation to the shelf member 11 is important, as is the size of the backing sheet 16, the latter being coextensive with the area of the panel 13. i

The panel 13 has a horizontal length which is at least as great as that of the shelf member 11 and has a vertical dimension which is great enough to extend downwardly from the level of the shelf member at least as far as the bottom of the shelf brackets 12. Also, the panel 13 preferably extends upwardly above the level of the shelf member, which it inherently would do if two or more shelf members were provided as shown in FIG, 1, although it will be observed that, as shown, the panel 13 projects upwardly even beyond the level of the uppermost shelf member 11 for additional adhesive support.

The brackets 12 may be secured to the panel 13 by any one of the readily attachable and detachable means disclosed in the aforementioned prior patent application, one example of such means being shown in FIG. 3. The same comprises vertical rows of so-called T-nuts 19 embedded in the panel 13 and adapted to selectively receive screws 20 which project forwardly from the panel and have heads 20' engageable with wedge-type locking members 21 which are embedded in the brackets 12. It will be understood that by selectively locating the screws 20 in the vertical rows of T-nuts 19, the brackets 12 may be applied to the panel 13 so as to support the shelf members 11 at various different levels.

In the modified arrangement shown in FIG. 4, the T- nuts are omitted and simple screws 22 are inserted in apertures 23 formed in the panel 13, so that the screws pass forwardly into the brackets 12a. The heads 22 of the screws 22 are flush with the rear surface of the panel 13, and the backing sheet 16 is provided with openings 24 in register with the screw heads, so that access to the latter may be had before the shelf assembly is applied to the wall, for purposes of mounting the brackets 120 at appropriate levels on the panel 13.

In this regard it may be noted that the shelf assembly of the invention particularly lends itself to fabrication and shipment in a knocked-down form, to be erected by the purchaser and applied to a wall. In the instance of the bracket mounting shown in FIG. 3 the knocked-down form would involve the panel 13 already provided with the T-nuts 19 and backing sheet 16; the screws 20; the brackets 12 already provided with-the locking members 21; and the shelf members 11. The purchaser would simply remove the protective layer 18 from the back surface of the backing sheet 16 and adhesively mount the entire panel 13 on the wall, whereupon he would insert the screws 20 into selected ones of the T-nuts 19 and attach the brackets 12 to the panel by engaging the screw heads 20' with the locking members 21 of the brackets, and finally, position the shelf members 11 on the brackets to complete the wall mounted shelf assembly.

In the instance of the bracket mounting as shown in FIG. 4, the knocked-down form of the shelf assembly would involve the panel 13 already provided with the apertures 23 and with the backing sheet 16 including the openings 24; the screws 22; the brackets 12a, and the shelf members 11. In this instance the purchaser would first attach the brackets 12a to the panel 13 by passing the screws 22 through selected of the openings 24 in the backing sheet 16 and apertures 23 in the panel 13 to locate the brackets at the desired levels. Then, after removal of the protective layer 18 from the back surface of the backing sheet 16, the purchaser would mount the entire panel 13 with the associated brackets 12a on the wall, finally positioning the shelf members 11 on the brackets to complete the installation.

The shelf members 11 may be simply rested on the brackets 12 or 12a, or they may be secured thereto by nails or screws, although it is preferred to adhesively mount the same as in the aforementioned patent application, this being attained by employing adhesive mounting strips 16a, coated on one side to adhere to the shelf panel and similarly coated on the other side to adhere to the bracket, so that the use of nails or screws is unnecessary.

While in the foregoing there have been described and shown the preferred embodiments of the invention, various modifications may become apparent to those 4 1 skilled in the art to which the invention relates. Accordingly, it is not desired to limit the invention to this disclosure, and various modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is:

A shelf structure adapted to be selectively pre-assembled and mounted on a supporting wall, said shelf structure comprising a vertical wooden panel having front and rear surfaces and provided with at least two transversely spaced vertical rows of apertures countersunk at the rear surface of the panel, an adhesively coated backing sheet coextensive .in area with said panel, said backing sheet having an adhesive front surface secured to the rear SUI:

. face of the panel and an adhesive rear surface adapted to adhere to a supporting Wall, said sheet being provided with at least two transversely spaced vertical rows of openings in register with the countersinks of the respective apertures in said panel, at least two transversely spaced and horizontally aligned cantilever type brackets selectively positioned against the front surface of said panel, a horizontal shelf member supported by said brackets, and a plurality of screws selectively in'sertable from the rear of said backing sheet forwardly through selected of said openings and selected of said apertures into engagement with said brackets to fasten the brackets to the panel at a selected shelf height before the shelf structure is mounted on a wall, said screws having enlarged heads seated in the countersinks of the selected apertures flush with the rear surface of the panel.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS References Cited by the Applicant UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,340,521 2/ 1944 Engert. 2,957,584 10/1960 Jenkins. 3,178,030 4/ 1965 Huebel.

FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner.

JAMES T. MCCALL, Examiner, 

